Lawmakers to call for consolidation of elections

AUSTIN — Voters in Lubbock and other communities throughout the state just voted on local elections or bond proposals, but next week the Texas electorate will be asked to go back to the polls — this time to decide on the Democratic and Republican primary runoffs.

In all, when early voting for the May 27 runoffs begins on May 19 it will be at least the third time since mid-February that most Texas voters will be asked to do their civic duty.

Voters in municipalities or school districts with crowded races that will be decided in runoffs will be asked to go back to the polls in June — the fourth time since mid-February.

For state Rep. Drew Springer this is asking too much of the electorate, especially when many Texans are getting ready for high school and college graduations or planning their summer vacations.

This is why May elections usually have low voter turnouts, even lower than primary turnouts that seldom draw more than 10 percent of the registered voters, Springer, R-Muenster, said.

Moreover, multiple elections in short periods of time increase the likelihood of voter confusion — like absentee voters mixing up local and runoff ballots or using the wrong envelopes to send those ballots. Some voters could also miss an election because they think they have already voted.

Thus, when the Texas Legislature is back in session in January he and some of his colleagues plan on filing bills that would move the local May elections to November, Springer said.

“We will reintroduce that again,” Springer said.

In last year’s session, Springer filed similar legislation, but it was killed in the House Elections Committee.

Consolidating the local, state and federal elections would also save taxpayers’ dollars, he stressed.

“That was my reason for filing” last year’s legislation, he said. “It costs a lot of money to run these elections and we should do everything we can to save the taxpayers money.”

Springer, state Rep. Four Price and other legislators are dismayed that in most communities holding city council, school board or bond elections the voter turnout was low, even though 103 entities — mostly school districts — were asking their voters to authorize multimillion-dollar bond proposals. In a report, state Comptroller Susan Combs first released in January and most recently last week, her office said Texas voters were asked to authorize $6.7 billion worth of debt.

For this reason, voters everywhere should make their voice heard, said Rep. John Frullo, R-Lubbock.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t see it happening, Frullo said.

“It’s a sad state of affairs,” Frullo said. “People will not take 10 minutes to go out and vote, but they will gripe about the results of the (school) boards, of elected officials for hours and then you ask them ‘did you vote?’ and they say ‘no.’”

Though disappointed with the low turnout, Frullo is not surprised because over the years, Texas has had the lowest or one of the lowest voter turnouts in the nation, according to various studies.

A study the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life at the University of Texas at Austin conducted last year showed that in 2010 the Lone Star State ranked last in voter turnout.

In addition, Texas ranked 42nd in voter registration, 49th in the number of citizens who contact public officials and 44th in the number of people who discuss politics a few times a week or more, according to the study.

Moreover, the lowest turnout is usually in city council, school board and bond elections — often less than 5 percent of all registered voters.

Springer said he plans to work on a bill he can sell to his fellow legislators.

For example, under his proposal the ballot would lead off with local races or bond proposals, rather than with federal or statewide elections as is the case now.

“I would have the nonpartisan elections and the bond stuff first,” he said. “Then, you would get to the point where you can have straight party voting down, then you could do that,” Springer said.

“There are people who say we shouldn’t have straight party voting,” he added. “(But) I not on that side one way or the other.”